 Diolch i gael i'r sgol detainedfugr weithio y gyn forgedgesetzt ond holl yn fawr i ôl y proses lash gwypan, ac eich fawr yn gen 미안 eich pliad. We are establishing a national hub for the prevention of child deaths, which will launch in March this year. Its focus will be to oversee the child death review process, to drive a reduction in child deaths, which will start in full in early 2020. We are currently piloting this process in three health board areas, with a further two pilots commencing later this year and are investing £1 million from April in this important work. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. As she will be aware, the number of avoidable deaths in Scotland among infants and children is proportionally higher than elsewhere in the UK. The 2017 figures include victims of violence, accidents and birth defects, sometimes linked to smoking and alcohol. Does she agree that for the parents and those closest to children who have died it can be particularly traumatic to consider a death to have been avoidable and therefore minimising such fatalities must be an absolute priority? I am grateful to Mr Gibson for that supplementary answer. He is right that the number of avoidable deaths among infants and children is proportionally higher in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK, but it is also important to note that, since 2008, the number of child deaths under the age of 18 has reduced in Scotland by 32 per cent. However, I agree that minimising avoidable child deaths is a priority for the Scottish Government, as it should be, and we are committed to driving down the rate of child deaths in Scotland by learning from the child death review process and working with the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health to ensure that we get the process right, but most importantly that we apply the learning across the whole of our health service. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport for her further response. Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, said that the Scottish Government is, and I quote, "...certainly moving in the right direction by tackling child poverty and obesity. Nevertheless, despite recommending a Scotland-willed child death review process to be implemented over four years, this is yet to be established." However, I welcome the 32 per cent reduction in deaths, which the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport just mentioned, and the new hub. Does she agree that the delay that we have seen over the past few years implies that avoidable child deaths are not being given the priority that they deserve? Therefore, how will she convince parents and others that the Scottish Government is indeed urgently addressing this matter? I am grateful to Mr Gibson for that important supplementary question. I understand why people are frustrated at what they feel has been too long a time before the process is fully put in place. It is a priority for me, it is a priority for the Government. We will launch, as I said in full, in a month's time. We will continue to update the Parliament on that process. It really does matter, although we have seen a reduction in the number of child deaths under 18 per cent by 32 per cent, a reduction in near-natal mortality of 28 per cent and stillbirths reduced by 25 per cent in the past 10 years. Nonetheless, there is more that we need to do. Working to establish the hub and to run the pilot processes introducing those in a stage way so that learning can be replicated across our boards is something that we will take a very close eye on and look to ensure that, as we make progress on that, in the course of this calendar year, we update the Parliament on how that process is progressing in order to reassure people that that really is a priority for this Government. Miles Briggs, to be followed by Mary Fee. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It should concern every MSP in this chamber that avoidable deaths among children, babies and teenagers are higher in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK. Specifically, I wanted to ask about babies being born addicted to drugs, because since 2005 figures in November 2018 showed that 600 babies were born in this situation. I wanted to ask, in terms of a pre-birth approach, as recommended by Sir Harry Burns, what the Scottish Government is doing to take forward that approach. Much of the work in the best start process, which I know that Mr Briggs will be familiar with, is new, innovative and improved approach in terms of maternity care, and the work that has also been undertaken by Mr FitzPatrick in terms of the healthy weight and diet programme looking at preparation for pregnancy, if you like. All of that feeds into working with mums and about-to-be mums about what they need to do to be as healthy as they can be so that their child can be as healthy as it can be when it is born. That is also picked up by our community-based midwives, by our increase in the number of health visitors, all of which come together to begin to tackle some of the issues that we know women want to address, but sometimes can feel, as with smoking in pregnancy, that it is too much and they are not quite sure where to start. Being able to use those healthcare supports through the midwife and then through the health visitor with that important relationship that they can develop with pregnant women and then with new mothers is really important in helping people in a non-judgmental way to make some of the changes that are critical for the healthiest possible birth of those new babies. Mary Fee. There remains a significant link between material deprivation and life expectancy. Figures released in December revealed that a boy born in the most affluent area can expect to live over 10 years longer than a boy born in the poorest. What specific steps will the cabinet secretary and his Government take to end the scandal of health inequalities that persist in Scotland? There are a number of areas of work under way to tackle health inequalities, not all of which, as I am sure the member appreciates, sit in the health portfolio because inequalities are something that needs to be tackled much more widely. Work alongside, for example, the baby box, the new best start grant introduced by our new social security agency, all of which is attempting to get practical support into the hands, if you like, of mums and babies and small children. We are also looking with our deep-end practices and again with community-based healthcare workers, community mental health workers, link workers and others, about how we can reach all of the population that we need to reach with some of the preventative and improved lifestyle approaches that we need people to take. However, we need to do it in a way that is where people are, rather than appearing to be judgmental or lecturing or easy for someone like me to say about how you should stop smoking or you should eat more healthily or you should exercise. In situations where you are struggling to make ends meet and you have a family to try to bring up as well, it can feel just all too much and too impractical. Using again those connections with those trusted healthcare workers and others to help people identify ways in which practical in their means to make changes and improvements to their lifestyles is a way by which we begin in this portfolio, but more widely across Government, to tackle health inequalities. Of course, some of the work in education and elsewhere also plays a part in that. It would be beneficial at some point—maybe the member and I can co-operate on this—for us to have a wider debate in this Parliament about how we tackle health inequalities in the round across our portfolios and Government. I would be very happy to meet the member and to see if we can take that forward. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on providing legal aid to victims' families for fatal accident inquiries. We acknowledge that the family of the deceased may find attendance at an FAI distressing. The purpose of an FAI is to investigate the circumstances of a death in the public interest. At the FAI, the Procurator Fiscal leads the evidence to address the matters upon which the sheriff must make findings, including the cause of death. Where family members seek their own representation in order to participate as a party to an FAI, applications for legal aid towards the cost of that representation are subject to statutory test of probable cause, reasonableness and financial eligibility. That is consistent with the statutory test for applications for other forms of civil legal aid. Those arrangements were considered during the passage of inquiries into fatal accidents and sudden death Scotland act of 2016. However, the independent strategic review of legal aid in Scotland and recent high-profile cases, including the Clutha FAI, have highlighted that there is a need to review the current legislation with regard to eligibility for families involved in FAIs. I assure the Parliament that, going forward in planning for a new legal aid bill in Scotland, we will consider that issue. The legal aid Scotland act was actually in 1986, and that set the regulations that are still in force today. That is why we set up an independent strategic review of legal aid in Scotland and why we will be consulting on a new legal aid bill for Scotland before the summer recess. Daniel Johnson I thank the minister for that answer, but I know that many members will have been shocked, as I was, to learn last week, that the Clutha families are being asked to contribute as much as £8,000 for legal representation given the decision of the legal aid board. I hear what the minister has said about the review, but will the Government intervene immediately to reverse that specific decision? Moreover, when it is reviewing it, does the Government think that the normal means of assessment for legal aid are appropriate in the case of fatal accident inquiries into disasters such as Clutha given the wider public interest? Yes, sir. Due to the statutory regulations that are in place, Scottish ministers cannot intervene to change the decision made by the Scottish legal aid board. Legislation passed by this Scottish Parliament requires contributions to be paid depending on an individual's financial circumstances, and contributions reduce the cost of legal aid to the public purse and so help fund vital services. The figures that I have seen represented in the media of £8,000 for a family is not correct. That is actually the cumulative amount of money across all the families. The Scottish legal aid board has exercised the full discretion available to it in order to make the decision that they have made in this case. Daniel Johnson I thank the minister for that clarification, but I think that this question also raises issues more broadly with fatal accident inquiries. We have heard in recent weeks issues from families who have had loved ones who have died abroad, who still cannot get postmortems. Other families such as those of Craig McClellan who are frustrated because their murderer committed that murder on one side of the prison fence other than the other. I thank you to the work of the Lib Dems. The total cumulative backlog of FAIs is now shocking. Does the minister accept that there is something seriously wrong with the way FAIs are working in Scotland, despite legislative reform only taking place in 2016? Obviously, the decision to hold any fatal accident inquiry and the timing for initiating it is a matter entirely for the Lord Advocate. That is operating entirely independently of government, and I am sure that the member would accept that. Sometimes, depending upon the circumstances of a death investigation, it can be very complicated, it can be technical and it can also involve a number of different agencies working together. The Crown Office is committed to the prompt investigation of deaths, but it accepts that, in some cases, the time taken in order to complete a thorough investigation has been too long. It accepts that. The Scottish Government has made additional funding available to the Crown Office, and the Crown Office has used some of that to allow the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit to try to reduce the time required to complete the death investigations. Liam Kerr, to be filled by Liam McArthur. Sticking with the delays that Daniel Johnson brings up, can the minister tell us what are the cumulative delays to on-going FAIs? What conclusions does she draw from those delays about whether staffing levels at the COPFS are adequate? I can answer the member's question. The average length of time to complete an inquiry has been gradually decreasing, and that is going in the direction that we would like to see. We are pleased to see that it is decreasing, but we would like to see further progress on that area. That is why the Government has made additional funding available to the Crown Office in order to address the issue and to reduce the amount of time that is required to complete the death investigations. Does the minister agree that the system that makes families wait years to find out the circumstances surrounding their loved ones' death and ask them to make a financial contribution towards the process is broken? Is she aware of recent reports that the family of a victim of the M9 crash was sent a bill by the Highways authorities to replace the shrubs damaged at the side of the motorway? Does she agree that it is time for an independent review of FAIs? I thank the member for raising that point, which I think is very important to raise. I would agree that a review is required. Just to reiterate that it is the role of the Scottish Legal Aid Board to make determinations if legal aid funding is to be awarded. Scottish ministers cannot overturn that decision. There is no flexibility for the board to decide to disreply or disregard the statutory requirements that operate to assess and applicants' finances, and any changes to the system can only be made through changes to primary legislation. That is why we plan to consult on a new legal aid bill. That will be a full consultation and it will be happening this year before summer recess. I will carefully consider that issue as part of that wider planning for the new Scottish legal aid bill, and I would be happy to meet any member who wants to discuss it further and contribute to that bill. Thank you very much, and that concludes topical questions. We are going to move on now to the next item of business, which is a statement by Jean Freeman on patient safety within the...